Baldwin Square: Socially Shaping the Space
- CTUD
- Mar 24
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 23
Continuing a partnership that started when Paul Bauknight mentored Jamil Ford at North High School in Minneapolis, the Center for Transformative Urban Design (CTUD) will be an anchor tenant at Baldwin Square, a transformative real estate project located in North Minneapolis.
Baldwin Square is a site of restorative urbanism that brings together design, art, education, economic, social and spatial justice to serve North Minneapolis. Located at 42nd and Fremont Avenues North, the renovation project will bring life to a long-shuttered building in the Webber Camden Neighborhood.
The concept for Baldwin Square is to create a place for community to connect, to have access to lifelong learning, and to engage in just city building. Through design, design thinking, the arts, leadership and entrepreneurial training, Baldwin Square will become a community-fueled center for creating and sustaining an inclusive and equitable neighborhood and city.
CTUD will focus on just and inclusive city building through programming and strategies around knowledge building, diversification of the design professions and real estate development as a community wealth builder.
CTUD will be part of an exciting group of tenants including the Master of Art and Creative Leadership program (MACL) and the creative entrepreneurship program both from Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). These programs will provide leadership and entrepreneurial programming for community members with a special focus on young people. Neighborhood Development Center is assisting local entrepreneurs. Mobilize Design and Architecture, Jamil Ford’s firm, will also be in the building creating a dynamic synergy of Black owned design firms in North Minneapolis.
Kenneth Bailey the founder of the Design Studio for Social Intervention (DS4SI) will be a national perspective as an advisor and collaborator.
The project is projected to close the summer of 2025 with construction wrapping up in the first quarter of 2026. Baldwin Square is focused on the impact that the built environment has on the community. Focusing on the well-being and quality of life of the people of North Minneapolis, community members can be engaged and change the unjust systems and policies that dictate urban design and community development.